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AIIMS ad hoc lab attendants left in the lurch

After having served for over a decade, interviews held for regular appointments were declared null and void

They have now been asked to sit for a written examination and an interview next month

Many of them claim to be over-age for jobs elsewhere; are pleading to be made permanent

NEW DELHI: Over 40 ad hoc laboratory attendants working at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences here claim to have been left in the lurch by the institution they have served for over a decade after their interviews held last November for regular appointments to the post were declared null and void.

The attendants have now been asked to sit for a written examination and an interview scheduled for next month.

“We don’t understand why we have been left in the lurch after having served the Institute for over a decade. We have been working as daily wagers earlier and then became ad hoc employees here and now several years later after having served the Institute, we are being forced to clear two interviews and a written test to continue working on our posts. This process has been going on since last November and we have been on tenterhooks ever since,” said a laboratory attendants working at the Institute.

The employees, many of whom claim to be over-age for jobs elsewhere, are demanding that the Institute “put an end to our trauma and uncertainty and allow us to continue in our current posts as permanent employees.”

An order issued by the Institute on January 29 said: “The interviews held on November 17 and 18 for recruitment to the post of laboratory attendants at AIIMS now stand null and void due to administrative/technical reasons. All candidates who appeared for the interview are now informed that they will be given an opportunity to appear in a written/objective examination followed by an interview. The written examination is scheduled for March.” A petition by the employees read: “We are requesting the Institute to not throw us out on the streets. We have families to look after and are over-age for another job. Among our demands, we want the Institute to prepare a merit list based on marks awarded by the different Boards set up for the last interviews and we hope the Institute will recognise our problem and will support us in this stage of helplessness.”

An AIIMS official said: “This decision has been taken as per the inputs provided by the examination cell of AIIMS. We were asked to cancel the interview and will be holding a written test and interview later for appointments to the post.”